hungry

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adjective hun·gry \ ˈhəŋ-grē \

Definition of hungry

hungrier; hungriest

1 a :feeling an uneasy or painful sensation from lack of food :feeling hunger

b :characterized by or characteristic of hunger or appetite

a wolf with hungry eyes

2 a :eager, avid

hungry for affection

b :strongly motivated (as by ambition)

hungry investors

a power-hungry politician

3 :not rich or fertile :barren

a hungry soil

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hungrily

play \ˈhəŋ-grə-lē\ adverb

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hungriness

play \ˈhəŋ-grē-nəs\ noun

See hungry defined for English-language learners

See hungry defined for kids

Examples of hungry in a Sentence

There are millions of hungry people throughout the world.
That girl is always hungry.
The prisoners' families were hungry for more information.
They were hungry to learn more.

Recent Examples of hungry from the Web

Visiting the sick, comforting the afflicted, and feeding the hungry in body and soul.

— anna fifield, Washington Post, "Priest who’s visited North Korea more than 50 times wonders if he can go again," 30 Aug. 2017
In the meantime, the country has been ravaged by shortage of food and medicine, and its people increasingly go hungry.

— katia porzecanski, Bloomberg.com, "Walls Close In on Venezuela With U.S. Bond Sanctions," 25 Aug. 2017
Set up a lunch swap Grace noticed that many Hawaiian flight attendants bring enough to share so no one goes hungry.

— alyse whitney, Bon Appetit, "How Flight Attendants Meal Prep to Stay Healthy in the Air," 23 Aug. 2017
And girls with involved fathers are also far less likely to go hungry, to live in poverty, and to have better physical health, according to a second study done by Rutgers.

— charlotte andersen, Redbook, "Fathers Have An Even Greater Influence on Daughters Than You May Realize," 22 Aug. 2017
In 2017, audiences seemed especially hungry for the show’s message, a rebuke of rigid world views and self-seriousness delivered by a black, gay drag queen with decades in the business.

— rebecca keegan, vanityfair.com, "Au Revoir, Jerry Lewis," 21 Aug. 2017
The outline also mentioned a power-hungry and villainous Lannister killing everyone in their way in order to take the throne.

— joanna robinson, HWD, "Game of Thrones: The Explosive New Conflict Hiding in George R.R. Martin’s Original Outline," 8 Aug. 2017
But Glen insists that the market is hungry enough to consume all those acres of cubicles and trading floors.

— justin davidson, Daily Intelligencer, "The Megatowers Are Coming to East Midtown," 28 July 2017
But car trouble stalled her journey, stretching out an already dangerous trip to ten days, and leaving her waiting by the side of the road, hungry, for the car to be fixed.

— amanda sperber, Glamour, "Meet 18-year-old Nasra, Somalia’s First and Only Female Auto Mechanic," 17 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hungry.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of hungry

Middle English, from Old English hungrig; akin to Old English hungor

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

hungry Synonyms

Synonyms

empty, famished, peckish [chiefly British], starved, starving

Antonyms

full, sated, satiate, satiated, satisfied

Related Words

rapacious, ravenous, voracious, wolfish; malnourished, underfed, undernourished; gluttonous, gormandizing, greedy, hoggish, insatiable, piggish, piggy

Near Antonyms

engorged, glutted, gorged, overfed, overfull, overstuffed, replete, stuffed, surfeited

HUNGRY Defined for English Language Learners

hungry

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adjective

Definition of hungry for English Language Learners

: suffering because of a lack of food : greatly affected by hunger
: having an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach because you need food : feeling hunger
: feeling a strong desire or need for something or to do something